The salutation of St. Paul A. M. cir. 4056. a II. THESSALONIANS. h and his companions. A. D. cir. 52. PAUL, and Silvanus, and 5 Which is a manifest token A. U. C. 805. Anno Claudii Cæs. Aug. 12. Christ: C Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus 2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 d We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth ; Verse 1. Paul, and Silvanus, &c.] See the notes on 1 Thess. i. 1. This epistle was written a short time after the former; and as Silas and Timothy were still at Corinth, the apostle joins their names with his own, as in the former case. Verse 3. Your faith groweth exceedingly] The word veρavžave signifies to grow luxuriantly, as a good and healthy tree planted in a good soil; and if a fruit-tree, bearing an abundance of fruit to compensate the labour of the husbandman. Faith is one of the seeds of the kingdom; this the apostle had sowed and watered, and God gave an abundant increase. Their faith was multiplied, and their love abounded; and this was not the case with some distinguished characters only, it was the case with every one of them. Verse 4. We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God] We hold you up as an example of what the grace of God can produce when communicated to honest and faithful hearts. For your patience and faith] From Acts xvii. 5, 13, and from 1 Thess. ii. 14, we learn, that the people of Thessalonica had suffered much persecution, both from the Jews and their own countrymen; but being thoroughly convinced of the truth of the gospel, and feeling it to be the power of God unto salvation, no persecution could turn them aside from it. And having suffered for the truth, it was precious to them. Persecution never essentially injured the genuine church of God. Verse 5. A manifest token of the righteous judgment of God] The persecutions and tribulations which you endure, are a manifest proof that God has judged | righteously in calling you Gentiles into his church; and these sufferings are also a proof that ye are called in; for they who enter into the kingdom of God go through great tribulation; your going through of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, i for which ye also suffer: k A. M. cir. 4056. A. D. cir. 52. A. U. C. 805. Anno Claudii Cæs. Aug. 12. 6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; m 7 And to you who are troubled, 'rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with "his mighty angels, r 8 In flaming fire, Ptaking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: S 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, xiv. 13.- m 1 Thess. iv. 16. Jude 14.- - Gr. the angels of his power. o Hebr. x. 27. xii. 29. 2 Pet. iii. 7. Rev. xxi. 8.-P Or, yielding.- -9 Ps. lxxix. 6. 1 Thess. iv. 5. r Rom. ii. 8.- - Phil. iii. 19. 2 Pet. iii. 7. that tribulation is a proof that ye are entering in; and God sees it right and just that ye should be permitted to suffer before ye enjoy that endless felicity. The words, however, may be understood in another sense, and will form this maxim: "The sufferings of the just, and the triumphs of the wicked, in this life, are a sure proof that there will be a future judgment, in which the wicked shall be punished and the rightcous rewarded." This maxim is not only true in itself, but it is most likely that this is the apostle's meaning. That ye may be counted worthy] Your patient endurance of these sufferings is a proof that ye are rendered meet for that glory on account of which ye suffer, and, in a true gospel sense of the word, worthy of that glory; for he who is a child of God, and a partaker of the divine nature, is worthy of God's kingdom, not because he has done any thing to merit it, but because he bears the image of God; and the image is that which gives the title. Verse 6. Seeing it is a righteous thing] Though God neither rewards nor punishes in this life in a general way, yet he often gives proofs of his displeasure, especially against those who persecute his followers. They, therefore, who have given you tribulation, shall have tribulation in recompence. Verse 7. And to you who are troubled, rest with us ] And while they have tribulation, you shall have that eternal rest which remains for the people of God. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed] But this fulness of tribulation to them, and rest to you, shall not take place till the Lord Jesus come to judge the world. With his mighty angels.] The coming of God to judge the world is scarcely ever spoken of in the sacred writings without mentioning the holy angels, who are to accompany him, and to form his court or The glorious privileges a A. M. cir. 4056. and from the glory of his this calling, and fulfil all the A. D. cir. 52. A. U. C. 805. Anno Claudii Cas, Aug. 12. power; 10 b When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of d e * Deut. xxxiii. 2. Isai. ii. 19. Ch. ii. 8. Ps. lxxxix. 7. C Ps. lxviii. 35. A. M. cir. 4056. retinue. See Deut. xxxiii. 2; Matt. xxv. 31; xvi. see him in all his glory, the glory that he had with 27; xxvi. 64; Mark viii. 38. Verse 8. In flaming fire] Ev ploy ρog In thunder and lightning, taking vengeance-inflicting just punishment on them that know not God-the heathen who do not worship the true God, and will not acknowledge him, but worship idols; and on them that obey not the gospel-the Jews, particularly, who have rejected the gospel, and persecuted Christ and his messengers; and all nominal Christians who, though they believe the gospel as a revelation from God, yet do not obey it as a rule of life. | the Father before the world was. In reference to this we may apply those words of St. John: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John, chap. iii. 2. Instead of τοις πιστευουσιν, them that believe, τοις TOTEνoaσiv, them that have believed, is the reading of ABCDEF, many others, the later Syriac, Slavonic, Vulgate, and Itala, with most of the Greek Fathers. This reading is undoubtedly genuine. Because our testimony-was believed in that day.] The members of this sentence seem to have been strangely transposed. I believe it should be read thus: "In that day when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired among all them that have believed; for our testimony was believed among you." The Thessalonians had credited what the apostles had said and written, not only concerning Jesus Christ in general, but concerning the day of judgment in particular. Verse 9. Who shall be punished] What this everlasting destruction consists in we cannot tell. It is Dot annihilation, for their being continues; and as the destruction is everlasting, it is an eternal continuance and presence of substantial evil, and absence of all good; for a part of this punishment consists in being banished from the presence of the Lord-excluded from his approbation, for ever; so that the light of his countenance can be no more enjoyed, as there will be an eternal impossibility of ever being reconciled to him. The glory of his power] Never to see the face of Verse 11. We pray-that our God would count you God throughout eternity is a heart-rending, soul-worthy] It is our earnest prayer that God would appalling thought; and to be banished from the glory of his power, that power the glory of which is peculiarly manifested in saving the lost and glorifying the faithful, is what cannot be reflected on without confusion and dismay. But this must be the lot of all who acknowledge not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. make you worthy, akiway, afford those continual supplies of grace by his Holy Spirit, without which you cannot adorn your holy vocation; you are called into the Christian church, and, to be proper members of this church you must be members of the mystical body of Christ; and this implies that you should be holy, as he who has called you is holy. Fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness] 1. The goodness of God-his own innate eternal kindness, has led him to call you into this state of salvation. 2. It is the pleasure of that goodness to save you unto eternal life. 3. It is the good pleasure; nothing can please God more than your receiving and retaining his utmost salvation. 4. It is all the good pleasure of his goodness thus to save you; this he has amply proved by sending his Son to die for you, beyond which gift he has none greater. In this, all the good pleasure of his goodness is astonishingly manifested. 5. And if you be faithful to his grace, he will fulfil— completely accomplish, all the good pleasure of his goodness in you; which goodness is to be apprehended and is to work by faith, the power of which must come from him, though the act or exercise of Observations on II. THESSALONIANS. the preceding chapter. that power must be of yourselves; but the very power | danger, of the existence of which he is not convinced? to believe affords excitement to the exercise of faith. Verse 12. That the name of our Lord] This is the great end of your Christian calling, that Jesus who hath died for you may have his passion and death magnified in your life and happiness; that ye may show forth the virtues of him who called you from darkness into his marvellous light. And ye in him] That his glorious excellence may be seen upon you; that ye may be adorned with the graces of his Spirit, as he is glorified by your salva tion from all sin. According to the grace] That your salvation may be such as God requires, and such as is worthy of his grace to communicate. God saves as becomes God to save; and thus the dignity of his nature is seen in the excellence and glory of his work. 1. It is an awful consideration to the people of the world, that persecutions and afflictions should be the lot of the true church, and should be the proof of its being such; because this shows more than any thing else the desperate state of mankind, their total enmity to God; they persecute, not because the followers of God have done or can do them hurt, but they persecute because they have not the Spirit of Christ in them! Men may amuse themselves by arguing against the doctrine of original sin, or the total depravity of the soul of man; but while there is religious persecution in the world, there is the most absolute disproof of all their arguments. Nothing but a heart wholly alienated from God could ever devise the persecution or maltreatment of a man, for no other cause but that he has given himself up to glorify God with his body and spirit, which are his. 2. The everlasting destruction of the ungodly is a subject that should be continually placed before the eyes of men by the preachers of the gospel. How shall a man be induced to take measures to escape a Show him the hell which the justice of God has lighted up for the devil and his angels; and in which all Satan's children and followers must have their eternal portion. All the perfections of God require what is the due of a sinner or a persecutor, of one that he should render to every man his due. And who is a determinate enemy to God, goodness, and good men? Why, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. And if God did not award this to such persons, he could not be the God of justice. 3. The grand object of God in giving his gospel to mankind is to save them from their sins, make them like himself, and take them to his eternal glory. He saves according to the measure of his eternal goodness; the scanty salvation contended for and expected by the generality of Christians, it would be dishonourable to God to administer. He saves according to his grace. His own eternal goodness and holiness is the measure of his salvation to man; not the creeds and expectations of any class of Christians. To be saved at all, we must not only be saved in God's way, and upon his own terms, but also according to his own measure. He who is not filled with the fulness of God cannot expect the glory of God. 4. Another proof of the fall and degeneracy of men is, their general enmity to the doctrine of holiness; they cannot bear the thought of being sanctified through body, soul, and spirit, so as to perfect holiness in the fear of God. A spurious kind of Christianity is gaining ground in the world. Weakness, doubtfulness, littleness of faith, consciousness of inward corruptions, and sinful infirmities of different kinds, are by some considered the highest proofs of a gracious state; whereas in the primitive church they would have been considered as evidences that the persons in question had received just light enough to show them their wretchedness and danger, but not the healing virtue of the blood of Christ. CHAPTER II. He exhorts the Thessalonians to stand fast in the faith, and not to be alarmed at the rumours they heard concerning the sudden coming of Christ, 1, 2. Because, previously to this coming, there would be a great apostasy from the true faith, and a manifestation of a son of perdition, of whose unparalleled presumption he gives an awful description; as well as of his pernicious success among men, and the means which he would use to deceive and pervert the world; and particularly those who do not receive the love of the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness, 3-12. He thanks God for their stedfastness; shows the great privileges to which they were called; and prays that they may be comforted and established in every good word and work, 13-17. An awful apostasy to precede A. M. cir. 4056. A. D. cir. 52. A. U. C. 805. Anno Claudii Cæs. Aug. 12. Now b A. M. cir. 4056. A. D. cir. 52. A. U. C. 805. Anno Claudii Cæs. Aug. 12. we beseech you, bre- | nor by letter, as from us, as that him, ye 1 Thess. iv. 16.- b Matt. xxiv. 31. Mark xiii. 27. 1 Thess. iv. 17. Matt. xxiv. 4. Eph. v. 6. 1 John iv. 1. Matt. xxiv. 4. Eph. v. 6.- Le 1 Tim. iv. 1.- Dan. vii. NOTES ON CHAP. II. Verse 1. We beseech you-by the coming of our Lord It is evident that the Thessalonians, incited by deceived or false teachers, had taken a wrong meaning out of the words of the first epistle, chap. iv. 15, &c., concerning the day of judgment; and were led then to conclude that that day was at hand; and this had produced great confusion in the church: to correct this mistake, the apostle sent them this second letter, in which he shows that this day must be necessarily distant, because a great work is to be done previously to its appearing. Of the day of general judgment he had spoken before, and said that it should come as a thief in the night, i. e. when not expected; but he did not attempt to fix the time, nor did he insinuate that it was either near at hand, or far off. Now, however, he shows that it must necessarily be far off, because of the great transactions which must take place before it can come. Verse 2. Be not soon shaken in mind] ATо TOV voog From the mind; i. e. that they should retain the persuasion they had of the truths which he had before delivered to them; that they should still hold the same opinions, and hold fast the doctrines which they had been taught. Neither by spirit] Any pretended revelation. Nor by word] Any thing which any person may profess to have heard the apostles speak. Nor by letter] Either the former one which he had sent, some passages of which have been misconceived and misconstrued; or by any other letter, as from us-pretending to have been written by us, the apostles, containing predictions of this kind. There is a diversity of opinion among critics concerning this last clause, some supposing that it refers simply to the first epistle; others supposing that a forged epistle is intended. I have joined the two senses. The word caλevoŋvai, to be shaken, signifies to be agitated as a ship at sea in a storm, and strongly marks the confusion and distress which the Thessalonians had felt in their false apprehension of this coming of Christ. As that the day of Christ is at hand.] In the preface to this epistle I have given a general view of the meaning of the phrase the coming of Christ. Now the question is: Whether does the apostle mean, the coming of Christ to execute judgment upon the Jews, and to destroy their polity, or his coming, at the end 25. 1 John ii. 18. Rev. xiii. 11, &c. See 1 Mac. ii. 48, 62. g John xvii. 12. of time, to judge the world? There are certainly many expressions in the following verses that may be applied indifferently to either, and some seem to apply to the one, and not to the other; and yet the whole can scarcely be so interpreted as to suit any one of these comings exclusively. This is precisely the case with the predictions of our Lord relative to these great events; one is used to point out and illustrate the other. On this ground I am led to think that the apostle, in the following confessedly obscure words, has both these in view, speaking of none of them exclusively; for it is the custom of the inspired penmen, or rather of that Spirit by which they spoke, to point out as many certain events by one prediction as it was possible to do, and to choose the figures, metaphors, and similes accordingly; and thus, from the beginning, God has pointed out the things that were not by the things that then existed, making the one the types or significators of the other. As the apostle spoke by the same Spirit, he most probably followed the same plan; and thus the following prophecy is to be interpreted and understood. Verse 3. Except there come a falling away first] We have the original word amoσrasia in our word apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the essential principles of religious trutheither a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to salvation. But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction. At present I shall content myself with making a few literal remarks on this obscure prophecy, and afterwards give the opinions of learned men on its principal parts. That man of sin] Ο ανθρωπος της ἁμαρτιας The same as the Hebrew expresses by px wx ish aven, and by wx ish beliyaal; the perverse, obstinate, and iniquitous man. It is worthy of remark that, among the Rabbins, Samael, or the devil, is called byba we wish beliyaal veish aven, the man of Belial, and the man of iniquity; and that these titles are given to Adam after his fall. The son of perdition] 'O vios тnç awλeas The son of destruction; the same epithet that is given to Judas Iscariot, John xvii. 12, where see the note. The son of perdition, and the man of sin, or, as some excellent MSS. and Versions, with several of the The apostle's description A. M. cir. 4056. II. THESSALONIANS. a of the man of sin. A. M. cir. 4056. A. D. cir. 52. 4 Who opposeth and exalteth | 8 And then shall that Wicked himself above all that is called be revealed, whom the Lord God, or that is worshipped; so shall consume with the spirit that he, as God, sitteth in the of his mouth, and shall destroy temple of God, shewing himself that he is with the brightness of his coming: God. 9 Even him, whose coming is after the 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet working of Satan, with all power and signs with you, I told you these things? and lying wonders, 6 And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. Fathers, read, aν0ρwжоs τηs avоpaç, the lawless man, see ver. 8, must mean the same person or thing. It is also remarkable that the wicked Jews are styled by Isaiah, chap. i. 4, own a benim mashchithim, "children of perdition;" persons who destroy themselves and destroy others. Verse 4. Who opposeth and exalteth] He stands against and exalts himself above all divine authority, and above every object of adoration, and every institution relative to divine worship, oßaoua, himself being the source, whence must originate all the doctrines of religion, and all its rites and ceremonies; so that sitting in the temple of God-having the highest place and authority in the Christian church, he acts as God-taking upon himself God's titles and attributes, and arrogating to himself the authority that belongs to the Most High. The words wc Oɛov, as God, are wanting in ABD, many others, Erpen's Arabic, the Coptic, Sahidic, | Ethiopic, Armenian, the Vulgate, some copies of the Itala, and the chief of the Greek Fathers. Griesbach has left them out of the text, and Professor White says, certissime delenda; "they should most certainly be erased." There is indeed no evidence of their being authentic, and the text reads much better without them: So that he sitteth in the temple of God, &c. Verse 5. I told you these things] In several parts of this description of the man of sin, the apostle alludes to a conversation which had taken place between him and the members of this church when he was at Thessalonica; and this one circumstance will account for much of the obscurity that is in these verses. Besides, the apostle appears to speak with great caution, and does not at all wish to publish what he had communicated to them; the hints which he drops were sufficient to call the whole to their remembrance. Verse 6. And now ye know what withholdeth] I told you this among other things; I informed you what it was that prevented this man of sin, this son of perdition, from revealing himself fully. k h 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them Hebr. x. 27.- h John viii. 41. Eph. ii. 2. Rev. xviii. 23. iSee Deut. xiii. 1. Matt. xxiv. 24. Rev. xiii. 13. xix. 21. k 2 Cor. ii. 15. iv. 3.- Rom. i. 24, &c. See 1 Kings xxii. 22. Ezek. xiv. 9. Verse 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work] There is a system of corrupt doctrine, which will lead to the general apostasy, already in existence, but it is a mystery; it is as yet hidden; it dare not show itself, because of that which hindereth or withholdeth. But when that which now restraineth shall be taken out of the way, then shall that wicked one be revealed-it will then be manifest who he is, and what he is. See the observations at the end of this chapter. Verse 8. Whom the Lord shall consume] He shall blast him so, that he shall wither and die away; and this shall be done by the spirit of his mouth-the words of eternal life, the true doctrine of the gospel of Jesus; this shall be the instrument used to destroy this man of sin: therefore it is evident his death will not be a sudden but a gradual one; because it is by the preaching of the truth that he is to be exposed, overthrown, and finally destroyed. The brightness of his coming] This may refer to that full manifestation of the truth which had been obscured and kept under by the exaltation of this man of sin. Verse 9. Whose coming is after the working of Satan] The operation of God's Spirit sends his messengers; the operation of Satan's spirit sends his emissaries. The one comes κατ' ενέργειαν του Osov, after or according to the energy or inward powerful working of God; the other comes Kar' Eveρyɛlav Tov Zarava, according to the energy or inward working of Satan. With all power] Пaoy dvvaμɛ All kinds of miracles, like the Egyptian magicians; and signs and lying wonders: the word lying may be applied to the whole of these; they were lying miracles, lying signs, and lying wonders; only appearances of what was real, and done to give credit to his presumption and imposture. Whereas God sent his messengers with real miracles, real signs, and real wonders; such Satan cannot produce. Verse 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness] With every art that cunning can invent |